Fifteen minutes into NHL free agency many had already crowned the Nashville Predators as the day’s biggest winners.
The team agreed to terms with three of the top players available in center Steven Stamkos, right winger Jonathan Marchessault and defenseman Brady Skjei.
The moves give the Predators two 40-goal scorers to add to their top six plus a veteran top-four defenseman with an excellent shots who can put up points in bunches from the blue line.
A two-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner, given annually to the top scorer in the NHL, Stamkos is coming off a 40-goal, 81-point season in 2023. The 34-year-old forward is a seven-time All-Star and two-time Stanley Cup champion.
Since his rookie year in 2008, Stamkos is second to only Alex Ovechkin in goals, and he ranks first in shooting percentage (16.7), second in power-play goals (214) and game-winning goals (85) and third in points (1,137) and power-play points (422).
Marchessault spent the last season with the Vegas Golden Knights. He scored a career-high 42 goals and his 69 points were the second-most of his career. In his last eight seasons, Marchessault has scored 20 or more goals seven times and 50 or more points six times.
The 33-year-old won a Stanley Cup with Vegas in 2022 and he also became the 10th undrafted player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy, awarded to the most valuable player in the NHL postseason.
Skjei, 30, is coming off arguably the two best seasons of his career with the Carolina Hurricanes. He posted a career-best 18 goals and 38 points in 2022 and 13 goals and a career-high 47 points last season.
Nashville also parted ways with forwards Jason Zucker, who signed a one-year, $5M deal with the Buffalo Sabres, and Kiefer Sherwood, who signed a two-year, $3M contract with the Vancouver Canucks.